Mum assaulted by playground yob

Leyland Park assault victim

POLICE are investigating after a Wigan woman suffered a brutal early evening attack following a verbal altercation with a gang of youngsters.

The woman, from Hindley, who doesn’t wish to be named, had challenged them after seeing newly installed swings being thrown up and over mountings in Leyland Park, having arrived there to collect her own daughter.

The victim was floored and left dazed by a powerful single blow from one of the yobs, whom she believes she has identified via Facebook as a 14-year-old local girl.

Because the mum has a job which involves dealing with the public face to face, she has had to take time off work and may yet lose wages because of it, while the black bruising

to her partially closed right eye subsides.

The mum, who is in her early 40s, said: “I did what I what hope most people in their right minds would do.

“The council has spent a lot of money, which at the end of the day is our money, doing a nice job refurbishing the park but some of these children just love being destructive.

“I went there to collect my daughter and could see out of the corner of my eye a group of teenage children throwing the swings over the top of the frame they are mounted on.

“That kind of vandalism, particularly with the play equipment being so new, really annoys me and I am the type of person to challenge it.

“I told them to stop it and I got a barrage of effing back for my trouble. Things got quite heated and then one of the teenagers punched me, out of the blue, in the face, which sent me flying.

“As an adult you are in an awkward position when you are assaulted by a minor because your physical actions can be misinterpreted and you can then find yourself in trouble, rather than the attacker.

“I was feeling dizzy and a bit woozy but I found the police straight away because this type of behaviour can’t be tolerated.

“It certainly must not be allowed to become the norm in a public park where lot of young children are playing. This kind of teen gang can’t take over play areas like this without people who bring their own children up properly asking them to behave.

“Otherwise we might as well pour all the money that has been spent on making Leyland Park such a lovely facility down the drain, for all the value for money we are getting.”

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